FALL RIVER — Tonight, the School Committee will review and vote on a statement of interest for a new building project at B.M.C. Durfee High School that school officials hope to submit to the Massachusetts School Building Authority before the end of the month.

The meeting will take place 6:30 p.m. in the Morton Middle School auditorium.

The MSBA previously rejected a statement of interest submitted for a renovation project at Durfee.

Durfee Principal Paul Marshall said he felt the district will make a strong case for the new project.

“We have a very strong application this time,” Marshal said. That application includes an exhibit — “an array of photos taken by students that paint the picture of the challenges we have at Durfee.”

Those challenges include roofing, heating and energy efficiency.

Officials from the New England Association of Schools and Colleges placed Durfee in a warning category over concerns about the building during the school’s most recent reaccreditation process, Marshall said. “We are fully accredited, but are on warning status for community resources for building.”

Marshall said NEASC officials informed him that if the building issues are not resolved by the next reaccreditation visit, in five years, Durfee could be placed on probation status.

The district’s SOI to the MSBA must also receive approval from the city council prior to submission. The council meets on Tuesday. The deadline is April 11.

Also on the agenda, the committee will look at Durfee’s grade system and hold a discussion on whether to raise the minimum passing grade at the school. That minimum passing grade is currently 60, but Marshall said school officials are looking to “raise the bar.”

The proposal to raise the minimum passing grade comes after surveying teachers and parents and looking at other schools’ passing grade requirements.

“We found 48 percent of communities had a 60 passing grade. And 48 percent had 65. Two percent had 70,” Marshall said. “There’s no standard.”

“Teachers felt like we should raise it to 65 to elevate the culture of the school,” Marshall said.

He said if Durfee’s minimum grade is raised he wouldn’t expect it to negatively affect Durfee’s graduation rate, which had improved to nearly match the statewide graduation rate last year. “People are going to do what is expected. For me, it’s about learning the curriculum. And a minimum passing grade is not what we’re shooting for our kids. We want to make sure our kids are mastering what we teach them.

Page 2 of 2 - With a new minimum grade would come a new grading structure — any grade below 65 would be considered an F. A D and D- would also be adjusted accordingly, Marshall said.

The committee will consider a request from school officials to pursue contracts for student transportation beyond three years in length. If the committee approves, that request then would require city council authorization. The action is in response to student transportation costs that increased more than 25 percent over prior years’ costs. The district currently gives one-year contracts for special needs student transportation services.

The committee will also receive an update on the Henry Lord building, which is currently being retrofitted to open as a kindergarten to grade six school this September.